RACING JARGON
Added Money - Money added by the racing association to the amount paid by owners in nomination, eligibility, and starting fees.
Allowance Race - An event other than claiming, for which the racing secretary drafts certain conditions.
Barren - A term denoting the status of a mare that was bred but did not conceive.
Bar Shoe - A horseshoe in which the heels are connected by a bar, rather than being open as a normal shoe. The purpose of the bar is to keep the hoof from spreading on impact and is normally used when a horse has foot problem, such a quarter crack.
Bat - A whip.
Bib - A type of martingale consisting of a triangular piece of leather used to keep the horse’s head down and balanced.
Black Type - Boldface type used in sales catalogues to distinguish horses that have won or placed in a stakes race.
Bleeder - A horse that bleeds from the lungs after or during a workout or race.
Blinkers - A device used to limit a horse’s vision and prevent him from swerving from objects, other horses, etc., on either side of him.
Blister - A counterirritant, usually applied to the legs, used to promote healing by increasing circulation to the area.
Bloodstock Agent - A broker who represents the purchaser or seller (or both) of thoroughbreds at public or private sale, generally in exchange for commission.
Blowout - Exercising a horse for a short distance at a fast pace, normally two to three days before a race.
Book - The group of mares scheduled to be bred to a stallion during the breeding season. A full book denotes that the stallion attracted the maximum number of mares allowed by his manager.
Bottom Line - A Thoroughbred’s breeding on the female, or distaff side.
Bowed Tendon - An injury to the deep flexor tendon, superficial flexor tendon, or both. These tendons are located behind the cannon bones.
Breeze - To work a horse at just under his top speed.
Bucked Shins - Inflammation of the periosteum on the front of the cannon bone. It is a common occurrence with young horses.
Bug - Apprentice jockey weight allowance.
Bute - A slang name for Phenylbutazone. An anti-inflammatory drug used to reduce swelling and pain.
Caulks - A cleat on shoes that give a horse better traction in mud or on a soft track. Also called stickers.
Claiming Race - An event in which each horse entered is eligible to be purchased at a set price. Claims must be made before the race and can be made only by eligible persons. Claiming races are generally of a lower class than allowance races; also, the lower the claiming price, the lower the class.
Colt - A male horse (other than a gelding or a ridgeling) which has not reached its fifth birth date or has not been bred.
Cooling Out - Restoring the horse’s normal body temperature and heart rate, usually by walking, after he becomes over heated in a workout or race.
Cover - A single breeding of a mare to a stallion. If a mare were bred to a stallion three times before becoming pregnant, then she was covered three times. Cove date in a sales catalog refers to the last date a mare was bred that season.
Cribber - A vice in which a horse sets its teeth on a post or a side of a stall, arches his neck, and sucks in large quantities of air. The habit can lead to colic or other digestive problems because of the excessive amount of air brought into the digestive tract.
Daisy Cutter - A horse that has a long, low stride.
Dam - The mother of a horse. In a pedigree, the first dam is the horse’s mother; the second dam is the first dam’s mother; and the third dam is the second dam’s mother.
Dogs - Barriers placed on a track to keep horses off the inside rail. Workouts around these barriers are noted, and the times are correspondingly slower due to the longer distances it adds on the turns.
Filly - A female horse that has not reached its fifth birthday or has not been bred.
Firing - A medical treatment used on horse’s legs to promote healing in increasing circulation. The method consists of numbing the horse’s leg and creating a number of pin-sized holes in the horse’s leg with a hot electrically heated tool. Also known as pin firing.
Foal - A baby horse. Also, the process of giving birth. A pregnant mare is termed in foal.
Furlong - One-eighth of a mile; 220 yards; 660 feet.
Gelding - A male horse that has been castrated.
Graded Race - Those races judged by a Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders Association to be the highest caliber Stakes races in the country. There are three types of Graded Races, Grade I being he highest, Grade II and Grade III.
Halter - A piece of tack used for holding, leading or tying up a horse.
Hand - A unit of measurement used in determining the height of a horse. Four inches equal one hand, and a horse is measured by the number of hands in a straight line from the top of its withers to the ground.
Handicap Race - An event in which the racing secretary determines the weight to be carried by each horse in the race according to his assessment of their ability and past performances.
Heaves - a lung condition characterized by a constant cough and decreased stamina.
Hood - a blinker.
Hotwalker - A person or a mechanical device employed to lead a horse after exercise to cool it down.
Lasix - A diuretic used on bleeders before a race or workout.
Leads - The leading leg of a horse in a canter or gallop. A horse usually leads with his inside leg around a turn and with his opposite leg on straightaways.
Listed Race - A non-graded stakes race with a purse of $50,000 or more added money.
Maiden - A racehorse of either sex that has never won a race. Also a female horse that has never been bred.
Morning Glory - A horse that performs well in its morning workouts but is lackluster in its racing efforts.
Nearside - The left side of the horse. A horse is always led and a rider always mounts from the near side.
Off Side - the right side of a horse.
On the Bit - When a hose is eager to run.
Osselet - Calcification deposit in the area of the fetlock joint, which creates an impediment of movement in that joint.
Paint - A counterirritant used on the legs of horses to promote healing by increasing circulation. A mild blister.
Plates - Shoes horses wear in training or racing.
Produce - The offspring of a mare.
Restricted Race - A race restricted to certain starters either because of their place of birth or previous winnings.
Ridgeling - A male horse with only one descended testicle.
Rub - To groom or take care of a horse.
Run Down - The result of a horse that has weak pasterns hitting them on the track during a race or workout.
Shadow Roll - A device normally made of sheepskin, which goes over a horse’s nose to prevent him from seeing shadows o the ground or to keep his head down.
Shedrow - The aisleway in a barn.
Short - When a horse needs more conditioning to attain its best form.
Sire - The father of a horse.
Slipped - A term used to describe when a mare aborts her foal.
Sound - a term used to denote a horse’s health and freedom from lameness or disease.
Spit Box - The barn where saliva, blood, and/or urine samples are taken from horses following a race.
Splint - A bony enlargement on a horse’s splint and/or cannon bone. They are caused by excessive strain or a blow to the area.
Sprinter - A hose who performs best at short distances, usually less than a mile.
Stakes - The highest class of race.
Stallion Season - The right to breed one mare to a particular stallion for one specified season.
Stallion Share - An ownership interest in a stallion, which customarily entitles the owner to breed one broodmare to the stallion each year.
Stayer - A horse who performs best at longer distances.
Stick - A whip.
Stickers - Caulks on shoes that give a horse better traction in mud or on a soft track.
Suckling - A foal still nursing its dam.
Tack - A rider’s racing gear. Applied also to stable gear.
Tongue Tie - A strap or bandage used to tie down a horse’s tongue to prevent it from choking him or blocking his wind passage in a race or workout.
Tying Up - A condition characterized by cramping of the back and leg muscles. It is thought to be caused by a combination of nutritional, condition and genetic factors.
Washing Out - When a horse breaks out in a nervous sweat before a race.
Weanling - A foal after it has been weaned from its dam to the time it becomes a yearling on the January 1st following its foaling.
Work - To breeze or exercise a horse.
Yearling - A horse between the first New Year’s Day after being foaled, to the following January 1st.
